Matthew Cook's Author Spot

"Insha'Allah" nominated for BSFA "Best Short Story 2021"

2012-01-15T16:50:00.002-05:00

Wow... I just learned that my short story "Insha'Allah" (which appeared in Interzone #235) was just nominated for the 2012 Best Short Story award by the British Science Fiction Association. The rest of the nominees can be found here:

http://www.bsfa.co.uk/news/bsfa-awards-nominations-update/

This is a great honor, indeed. Best of luck to all the other nominees - just like last year I'm up against some INCREDIBLE competition.

Review: Shoe Factory on SF Site

2012-01-03T08:09:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year!

Just saw this review of The Shoe Factory in Interzone #231 over at SF Site:

http://www.sfsite.com/01a/izo359.htm

Money quote:

"The Shoe Factory" by Matthew Cook is the similarly compelling story of a young pilot in a doomed asteroid mining ship who remembers his youth as a scavenger in a dilapidated future China. All five stories this issue are approaching best-of-the-year award quality.

And another for "Insha'Allah"...

2011-08-02T11:10:00.005-04:00

This time over on Neil Williamson's blog. There are several reviews posted there, but here's the money quote for "Insha'Allah":

Insha’Allah by Matthew Cook (Interzone) – This is the second Matthew Cook story I’ve come across in Interzone this year, and I’ve been impressed with the quiet sure-footedness of his writing. There may be question over whether the society of the Muslim-settled planet under threat from alien attack is enough of an extrapolation from a similar contemporary society to warrant being drawn as science fiction, but I greatly enjoyed the story nevertheless.

I'm not sure I completely agree with the assertion that my fictitious society MUST be sufficiently different from any contemporary society to warrant its inclusion in a science fiction story, but obviously if I said that the story is not at least in part an echo of our current world's troubles I'd be lying. That said, I do feel that the specific tropes available in sci-fi add to the story. The real question seems to be: should I have made the story MORE "science-fiction-y" than it already is? Some reviewers seem to feel so.

As for what *I* feel, well...

Another Insha'Allah review...

2011-07-29T18:55:00.003-04:00

...this time over on Rob McCow's blog. Snippet:

Insha'Allah by Matthew Cook addresses concerns about Islamic society, in particular the role of women and the potential strength of the Mullahs in dictating the law. Science fiction often uses metaphor or extrapolation to make serious points about the way we live today. This story makes its points absolutely straight up with only a sprinkling of sci-fi in the background. It could be set in modern Afghanistan and be about a crashed fighter pilot, but the enemy being fought are the E'k, the fighter pilot has implants and technology under her skin and there are hints that the battle is taking place in the near future.

There's a bit more, but you get the point... And for what it's worth I think Rob makes a good point: I do think that good storytelling should, wherever possible, deal with universal issues and must contain characters that the reader can relate to. As such, I tried to consciously tell a story that COULD be "transplanted" from a sci-fi setting. As always, I leave it up to the reader to decide if I actually MET this goal.

"Insha'Allah" in the news...

2011-07-29T16:25:00.002-04:00

Anthony Williams has a mini-review of all the stories in Interzone #235 on his blog. Money quote:

Insha'Allah by Matthew Cooke, illustrated by Richard Wagner. A female doctor-turned-body-washer on a fundamentalist Muslim world is faced with treating a crashed female spaceship pilot, fallen from a battle for the planet raging overhead. A most unusual story which sticks in the mind.

...

Interzone #235 - First Review!

2011-07-27T13:39:00.003-04:00

A review of all stories in Interzone #235 is up at:

http://johnsreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/interzone-235-jul-aug-2011.html

Money quote:

"The stories open with the best of the bunch in my opinion, ‘Insha’Allah’ from Matthew Cook and if it opens feeling rather derivative of current events in North Africa and Afghanistan, Cook eschews a story based on a science fictiony peace-keeping mission with high tech kick-assery, dwelling instead on the effects the conflict’s having on the local population"

What's interesting is that I wrote the story almost two years ago, well in advance of the current struggle in Libya/Egypt, etc. But I agree that I did certainly want to tell a different version of this sort of "Enemy Mine" type story, using themes based on our current overseas... ah... "adventurism". Whether I was successful or not is, as always, in the eyes of the reader.

More details on "Insha'Allah" and the other great stories in Interzone #235 are at the linked URL.

...

Interzone #235 Details and Lineup

2011-07-12T07:10:00.002-04:00

The lineup for issue #235 of Interzone is up with illustrations - see HERE for details.

I'm thrilled to be sharing this edition with Jon Wallace, Gareth L. Powell, Al Robertson, and reader-favorite Mercurio D. Rivera. There are also details on the page about where to buy the issue in the US, as well as information on how to take out a subscription (annual or even lifetime).

...

Insha'Allah Illustration - Interzone #235

2011-07-08T09:25:00.004-04:00

TTA Press has the first page and illustration from my short story on their Facebook page... If anyone can tell me how to link to the bigger version, please let me know -since this is on Facebook, the full-size version doesn't seem to be right-clickable to access the "Copy Image Address" menu choice.

Graphic by Richard Wagner, who also, I'm told, also did the cool, retro-pulp cover (thanks, Richard!)

I'd link you to Richard's website but I'm having trouble locating it this is a rough morning for me for some reason, sorry... If you know Richard's web site address, please post it in the Comments section.

Thanks!

Insha'Allah in Interzone #235

2011-07-08T09:07:00.005-04:00

If you're on Facebook, check out TTA Press's page for news on the summer issue (#235) - my short story, "Insha'Allah" will appear in there soon.

Although I'm not mentioned in the article, a partial lineup can be found over on Jim Steel's blog: Panglossian Hubris. Jim's the book review editor over at the magazine... not sure why he didn't think to mention me... Hmmmmm. But hey - check out that name placement - top billing this time!

Anyway. I'm thrilled to once more appear in Interzone - my first short story there, "The Shoe Factory", was very well received and made various long lists for assorted awards. I hope you'll enjoy "Insha'Allah" even more.

The Lettered Curmudgeon Reviews: Welcome To Bordertown

2011-04-22T10:27:00.013-04:00

Welcome to another exciting eposide of my ongoing series: The Lettered Curmugeon. Here, you'll find reviews on books, movies, TV shows and games, all told from a writer's perspective. In this installment, I'll be taking a look at a new series, set to debut in May: the contemporary fantasy anthology: Welcome To Bordertown.

1986 was an exciting year for geeks. Movies like Aliens, Big Trouble in Little China, Labyrinth, and Highlander were in the theaters. William Gibson’s Count Zero hit the shelves that year, and Orson Scot Card’s Ender’s Game won the Hugo, while Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Moore’s Watchmen changed comic books forever.

It was also a good year for anthologies. 1986 marked the debut of an ambitious “shared world” anthology created by Terri Windling and Mark Allen Arnold: Bordertown.

The original collection was a slender volume: four short stories filled with spell-powered motorcycles and rock-and-roll bands fronted by elven frontmen, set in a city on the edge of our world and the realm of faerie. Both magic and technology blended together in Bordertown, working sporadically, if at all, creating a place where curses turned runaway human boys into werewolves (sort of), and where the red waters of the Mad River, flowing out of faerie, were as addictive as unfulfilled dreams. It was, in many ways, the birthplace of “urban fantasy”, a sub-genre where traditional fairy-tales were updated for a modern audience through the amazing storytelling of Charles de Lint, Terri Windling, Emma Bull, and countless others.

Over the years, I’ve purchased thousands of books, but only a few stand out so strongly that I remember exactly where I was when I bought them. Bordertown is one such volume, one of the rare few. To say the anthology and the ones that followed (two other short story collections and a handful of novels) were influential on my own writing is an understatement. To say that I was excited when I learned that the Bordertown series was being resurrected for a modern audience equally so.

At 2010’s World Fantasy Convention, I was handed a copy of Welcome To Bordertown, the latest collection by the series’ current editors Ellen Kushner and Holly Black. It’s a massive collection: twelve new short stories from accomplished authors Cory Doctorow, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Tim Pratt, and Charles de Lint, as well as from relative newcomers such as Annette Curtis Klause, Janni Lee Simner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, and Nalo Hopkinson. The volume also includes poems by Neil Gaiman, Patricia A. McKillip, Delia Sherman, Jane Yolen, as well as a short, illustrated comic by Sara Ryan & Dylan Meconis. But does this latest incarnation of the beloved franchise not only capture the “where magic meets rock-and-roll” wonder of the original series (hey, the 80’s were a long time ago) while adding something new and fresh for the current generation of urban fantasy readers?

I’m happy to report that it does. In spades.

In this latest collection, Black and Kushner have resurrected the series, updating the setting and providing a fertile playground for a new generation of writers, all while preserving much of the nostalgic feelings of old. It’s a good trick, accomplished via a clever explanation of the city’s disappearance from the world we know. During this period, Bordertown skipped across time, like a stone tossed on a still pond, re-emerging over a decade later, a period its inhabitants experienced not as thirteen years, but as thirteen days. For that time, the roads leading back to the human world were closed.

Once re-opened, a new crop of miscreants and runaways find their way to the City Beside The Border. These misplaced dreamers, however, are different than the ones who came before: wired teens armed not with guitars, but with cell phones and Facebook feeds; girls with daydreams of darkly romantic vampires and smoldering werewolves; entrepreneurial network geeks driven by visions of sending data packets across the forbidden border into faerie.

No story uses the “lost in time” mechanism better than Alaya Dawn Johnson’s “A Prince of Thirteen Days”. It’s a poignant coming-of-age tale, populated by haunted statues, a wise and kindly Grandmother, and a family torn apart by space and time. In Johnson’s tale, star-crossed lovers pass messages across impossible borders, using art as their medium, leading to a resolution that, for all its inevitability, still manages to set its melancholy hook.

Other tales, such as Nalo Hopkinson’s “Ours Is The Prettiest”, and Cory Doctorow’s “Shannon’s Law”, take the series in fresh, thoroughly unexpected, directions. Hopkin’s story adds a refreshing dose of multiculturalism, drawing inspiration not from the traditional European faerie story, but rather the dark magic of New Orleans voodoo. What emerges is a sometimes confusing yet oddly memorable tale, one that lingers on the mind, spicy and sweet, like the taste of etouffee long after the last page is turned. In contrast, Cory Doctorow offers up a tale that could have come out of Silicon Valley, if it had been overrun by myth, where a visionary entrepreneur seeks a novel approach to circumventing the impenetrable border into faerie through high technology. It’s a story only Doctorow could have given us, full of inside jokes about web culture and technology. His progatonists are likable, if unlikely, heroes, wrapped in a narrative that seamlessly blends the wonder of our current-day achievements with a healthy respect for the traditional rules of the fairy tale.

Fans of the original series will be pleased by stories such as Emma Bull’s “Incunabulum”, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare’s “The Rowan Gentleman”, and Will Shetterly’s “The Sages of Elsewhere.” All three are classic Bordertown through-and-through, clear nods to what came before, harkening back to the glory days of urban fantasy. All are fun reads, but it’s Shetterly’s “Sages” that’s the stand-out, primarily due to the return of Wolfboy, one of my all-time favorite B’town characters. “Incunabulum” and “Rowan Gentleman” also deliver memorable moments, usually through the interaction of original characters and archetypes with the new-breed of Bordertown runaways. It’s culture-clash-as-metaphor, applied with artful skill by Bull, Black and Clare, offered up to the reader’s continued delight.

Alongside the collection’s stories are poems and song lyrics, written by past Bordertown alums and leading voices in the fantasy genre. The editors have stated that it is their desire for the Bordertown community to take these words and set them to their own music, creating new and original works. How this will work is still up in the air, however it is my understanding that space will be provided on the new Bordertown website (http://bordertownseries.com/) for these new creations, a move that promises to leverage the power of social media for the series’ newest fans.

That said, as poems the works spoke less to me than the short stories, despite their strong imagery and varied styles. Maybe when set to music they’ll truly come alive. I certainly can’t wait to hear what musicians will do with such strong and diverse source material.

Reading this latest Bordertown collection, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of readers the editors hoped to target. Aging fantasy fans like me, who think “de Lint and Bull”, not “Meyers and Hamilton”, when they hear the words “urban fantasy”? Teens and YA readers who came up on tales of Jacob, and Edward, and Anita Blake? The answer, of course, is both, a tricky proposition, but one that Kushner and Black manage, somehow, to pull off. Reading Welcome to Bordertown, I couldn’t help but wonder what’s next… what other stories might spring from the minds of writers established and new, inspired by the fruit of their dedication and hard work.

Personally, I can’t wait.

"Insha'Allah" Goes To Interzone!

2011-04-21T08:10:00.003-04:00

Just learned that my short story, "Insha'Allah" sold to Interzone Magazine. No word yet what issue it will appear in, but given the 'Zone's schedule, I suspect it will be a month or two. As soon as I know more, I'll post the news here.

As always, I want to thank the fine, fine people of Columbus Writeshop, my long-time writer's group. I critiqued the story through them a few months' back, and got boatloads of good suggestions on how to improve it. Thanks as well to the people who read it for me and shared your ideas about what worked (and didn't), including: Grafton; Amy; Jack W.; and others I'm sure I'm forgetting (sorry!)

The Lettered Curmudgeon Reviews: Sucker Punch

2011-03-29T18:15:00.010-04:00

Welcome to my new blog feature: The Lettered Curmudgeon. Here I’ll attempt to provide my take on of recent movies, television shows and video games, as told from a writer/storyteller's perspective. This month, I’ll be reviewing Zach Synder’s visually-impressive-yet-tragically-flawed magnum opus: Sucker Punch.

If you’ve seen the previews for this film (if not, check them out here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/videogallery), your expectations were likely similar to mine: big, over the top special effects set-pieces, full of explosions and sword fighting, served up with a healthy dose of overarching “tough chikz with gunz” sensibility. Likely, you really wouldn’t be expecting much in the way of story, or characterization, or anything approaching nuance. I certainly wasn’t, and was surprised to find something actually approaching a workable tale of sacrifice, sorrow and regret (as flawed as it eventually turned out to be—more on that in a bit) wrapped around Snyder’s highly-stylized visuals.

Sucker Punch is the story of Baby Doll (played by the fetching Emily Browning), a pig-tailed blonde who, through a series of unfortunate circumstances following the death of her mother and the accidental death of her sister, finds herself committed to a mental asylum by her abusive step-father. Daddy Dearest, you see, has a taste both for his stepdaughters’ forbidden fruit, as well for their inheritance. Baby Doll finds herself in the clutches of Blue, a corrupt hospital guard (Oscar Isaac), who has arranged for the orphaned waif to be lobotomized in five days by a visiting brain surgeon (played by Mad Men alum Jon Hamm). With Baby Doll’s memories wiped clean, Daddy-Dearest will, we assume, be left in sole control of the family fortune while she rots away, a mindless vegetable.

To escape this fate, she must enlist the help of her fellow inmates (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jamie Chung… ninja vixens, all) as well as avoid the well-meaning-yet-creepy ministrations of the staff psychologist, Dr. Gorski (played by Carla Gugono, 2009’s Silk Spectre from Snyder’s previous effort: Watchmen).

It’s here, after the film’s first 20-or-so minutes, that the narration abruptly shifts gears. The dreary hospital changes, transmogrifying into a posh night club-slash-bordello. Baby Doll’s fellow inmates are transformed from dirty, belligerent lunatics into sleek, well-fed showgirls. Each has a story to tell (or so we are told—never, unfortunately shown) via personal dances, oft-practiced (again, we are told) and performed for the pleasure of the club’s male “clients” (again … oh, you get the drift).

The bordello set-up, while intriguing, creates a separate, secondary frame for the narrative, slowing down the already-sedate pace of the film even further. We are introduced to all the primary characters a second time, this time in their more flamboyant alternate personas. Blue goes from weasel-like orderly to mustachioed pimp; Dr. Gorsky goes from psychiatrist to the club’s resident choreographer, etc.

It’s here that the film really starts going off the rails. Baby Doll we are told (again… not shown) is to be saved for the special attention of the “High Roller”, Hamm’s alter-ego in bordello-world, who is to appear in 5 days. She’s told (again… see a pattern here?) that her only weapon will be her dance, which she must learn to use as a weapon.

When Baby Doll practices her moves in the club’s mirrored dance studio, the scene shifts yet again, this time to a series of bizarre fantasy vignettes, each more otherworldly and visually striking than the last. This is where the Snyder’s visual signature shines best: sword battles against 15 foot-tall robot samurai armed with chain guns… zombie Dough Boys fighting in WWI trenches against mecha battlesuits straight out of Japanese anime… B-17 bombers vs. flame-spewing dragons, dog-fighting over courtyards full of orcs and knights in armor… the action just gets more and more insane, with eras and genres blended with luscious abandon.

It’s wild, and confusing, and chaotic, and (if you’ve managed to stay awake through not one but two set-ups, remember) really needs no explanation: this is pure fantasy, as experienced in Baby Doll’s fevered (likely medicated) brain. A last-ditch attempt to save herself from a fate literally worse than death. It's a powerful metaphor, expertly crafted for maximum visual punch.

So why, then, does Snyder feel the need to explain himself and the story, as he does literally at every opportunity? Each time Baby Doll and her rag-tag team of uber-hotties are sent into another mission (each time Baby Doll dances, I mean… Snyder’s sure to show us the set-up every time without fail… more needless explaination) we’re treated to a mission briefing by the Wise Man (played by Scott Glenn), a craggy Gandalf stand-in who Snyder uses to explain the patently obvious.

“Your mission is to sneak in and kill the baby dragon… Oh, and don’t wake up Mama!” No shit, Sherlock… like I couldn't see that just by looking out the effing window. Glenn, despite a solid, likable performance, really adds nothing whatsoever to the film—honestly, it felt like the entire character was created as a result of some retarded focus-group session with a bunch of pro wrestling fans: “Um… I don’ unnerstand why pretty blonde lady is fighting them there Japanese guys… Wuzzn’t she jus’ in, like, a cathouse or sumthin’? My head hurrrrrrts!”

One of the first things any good writer learns is the almost magical power of not explaining. Of showing the reader (or, in this case, the viewer) the scene, and letting it speak for itself. Certainly Snyder’s visuals (did I mention they’re jaw-droopingly amazing? They really, really are… definitely one for my Blu-Ray want list) make things perfectly clear; having Baby Doll’s sensei/commanding officer/babysitter tell me the patently-obvious really doesn’t help. All it really does is annoy me. Over and over.

One of the hazards of spending so much time thinking about the “craft” of writing is that I find it directly lowers my enjoyment of most movies. The writing in many films (likely due to the committee-based approach of crafting story arcs via the marketing department’s need for Happy Meal and action-figure product placement opportunities) tends to create a method of storytelling that seems to feel the need to explain any challenging thought, no matter how banal it actually is, and which, in almost every instance, degrades even stories with a solid core to mere pandering.

In the end, despite all the goodwill Snyder earned for me via his powerful visual style and willingness to take ballsey chances, I was left quite literally squirming in my seat with embarrassment by midway through Sucker Punch, wondering when it would finally be over. Too bad nobody in Marketing thought to shell out a few bucks for dinner and drinks with a slush-pile first reader from even a modest genre magazine or publishing house--they would have whipped the script into shape with a few well-placed strokes of their mighty red pens.

“Stop explaining!” I fantasize they would have written in the margins. “Story begins in the wrong place!” “Prologues are boring, no matter how well written (or beautifully shot) - get to the action!” “Did I mention STOP EXPLAINING??!?!?”

Good advice, whether you’re a humble genre writer, or a mighty Hollywood director.

Better luck next time, Zach… At least I'll buy the Blu-Ray. Damn you.

Another Shoe Factory Review: BestSF.net

2011-03-29T14:34:00.003-04:00

Many thanks to Jason Sanford for catching the latest review of November's "Shoe Factory", this time from Mark Watson over at bestsf.ne t. It's a very positive review and I'm thrilled to get it. Thanks again, Jason. And Mark, of course!

(Link below for the Facebook repost:

http://www.bestsf.net/2011/03/25/interzone-231-novemberdecember-2010/)

Integrating Feedback In Your Manuscript

2011-03-24T10:57:00.003-04:00

Alana Williams has a short (but succinct) piece on integrating critique suggestions and other editorial feedback into your manuscript over on Cheeky Reads - check it out HERE. (

Link for the Facebook repost: http://cheekyreads.blogspot.com/2011/03/integrating-feedback-into-your-writing.html).

Money quote:

Sometimes, it's helpful for me just to set a manuscript aside for awhile. Let it percolate. Read it some months later with a fresh eye. Sometimes, the project will not see the light of day. I take what I've learned and move on. Sometimes, I'll go forward with the project after time has passed.

And I think that it's also helpful to develop a small network of folks who are able to act as crit partners. People who will be honest, who understand my genre. Folks who aren't afraid to scribble in the margins: "What the hell is this platypus doing here? And when did he learn to play the kazoo?"

I've been part of Columbus Writeshop, a monthly writer's group, for several years. Everyone in our group had to audition to participate, and are either published authors, or are preparing manuscripts, month-in, month-out, for submission to publishers. Both my novels were critiqued by the group, and I got invaluable feedback as a result.

"Shoe Factory" back issues...

2011-01-20T11:34:00.005-05:00

I just confirmed that you can order back issues of Interzone #231 from this URL:

http://ttapress.com/interzone/backissues/

Cost (at today's exchange rate) is $8.20, shipped. Paypal accepted.

In addition to "The Shoe Factory", the issue also includes 3 stories from Jason Sanford, as well as Aliette de Bodard's "The Shipmaker", which just made the short list for Best Short Story from the BSFA (British Science Fiction Association) as well as the US's Year's Best Science Fiction anthology. More info on Jason Sanford and Aliette de Bodard can be found at:

http://aliettedebodard.com/

http://www.jasonsanford.com/ (FYI: Jason's site is chock full of awesome writerly goodness, and should be read by *everyone* who creates (or wants to create) good stories, genre-based or not. It's kinda like a vast Hometown Buffet of literary criticism, tips on craft, and timely announcements about what's happening in the field - only instead of crappy pasta and wilted salad, everything that's laid out is fillet mignon and lobster tail. Oh, and the buffet is free. Seriously... go lose an hour or two poking around... now.)

Anyway - go get your copy of Interzone #213 while you can!

Award Nomination: British Science Fiction Association

2011-01-14T17:35:00.004-05:00

Just learned that "The Shoe Factory" made the long list for "Best Short Story" for 2010 from the British Science Fiction Association. The entire long list can be found here:

http://vectoreditors.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/bsfa-nominees-so-far-best-short-fiction/

Scanning who I'm up against (Tanith Lee! Stephen Baxter! Bill Willingham! Aliette de Bodard! So many others!) I think my chances are... well... let's be polite and call them slim, but hope springs eternal, right? Either way, it's one hell of an honor to even be nominated, particularly considering that the story was, for all practical purposes, my first professional short-story sale.

PS - Yeah, I know they typo'd my name (they have me listed as Michael Cook...) - I dropped them a note asking them to change it.

Wish me luck, and if you're a member of the BSFA and liked the story, please feel free to second (or third... or fourth...) the nomination!

R.I.P.: Pete Postlethwaite

2011-01-03T10:42:00.003-05:00

.

Just learned about the death of one of my all-time favorite actors, Pete Postlethwaite:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8237109/Actor-Pete-Postlethwaite-dies-aged-64.html

I just saw Pete in what I think was his last role, the psychotic, calculating villain The Florist in Ben Aflack's The Town. He was also recently in the amazing Inception.

Goodbye, Pete - you will be sorely missed...

..

Undercity - a film by Andrew Wonder

2011-01-03T10:36:00.003-05:00

.

Ran across this while doing research for a new story, and thought it was just too cool to keep to myself. Do yourself a favor and, instead of watching Two And a Half Men or whatever network drivel that might be tempting you, check this out instead.

Undercity - by Andrew Wonder:

http://www.vimeo.com/18280328

..

Interzone #231 SPOTTED In The Wild...

2011-01-03T08:50:00.004-05:00

.

For everyone who's taken time to mail or call me to let me know that they can't find copies of Interzone #231 on store shelves: I just heard from Jason Sanford that copies have been spotted at Barnes and Noble as of Jan. 2. I also checked with Borders and learned that they do NOT stock the magazine, sorry. I'm also checking with the editors over at the magazine - apparently the TTA Press store site is not working properly and people have been having trouble direct-ordering copies right from the publisher.

Grrr...

Also, fresh reviews of the issue (including positive notes about my story, "The Shoe Factory") are up at SF Signal and Locus. URLs are listed below for the linked-challenged when this re-posts to Facebook:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/12/review-interzone-231/

http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2010/12/lois-tilton-reviews-short-fiction-mid-december/

Happy New Year to all my friends, family and fans!!!

..

"The Shoe Factory" makes "Best Stories of 2010" list...

2010-12-22T17:25:00.002-05:00

.

I just saw that "The Shoe Factory" made at least one person's "Best of 2010" list, that of Gareth Jones in the UK. More details, as well asd the list of other stories that made Mr. Jones' list (including Jason Sanford's "The Plague Birds" and Aliette De Bodard's "The Shipmaker", which also appeared next to my story in Interzone #231) can be found here:

http://www.garethdjones.co.uk/2010/12/favourite-stories-of-2010.html

..

Another "Shoe Factory" review: Nostalgia for Infinity

2010-12-12T12:53:00.003-05:00

Ah, Google alerts... how I love thee (thanks, Amy, for cluing me into them)...

Just saw another positive review for "The Shoe Factory" over on the blog Nostalgia for Infinity. , a blog about:

"...punk rock & games & stories & genre literature & other unpop-cultural detritus."

Pretty cool. The review, which also has write-ups for the entire Interzone #231 issue, can be found at:

http://www.nostalgiaforinfinity.com/2010/12/interzone-magazine-231/

Me, I'm just totally stoked that so many people are reading the story, and that, so far, the reviews have all been positive. If anyone out there runs across something I missed, please let me know!

.

New "Shoe Factory" review: John's Reading

2010-12-07T15:54:00.003-05:00

A nice little summary/mini-review of The Shoe Factory is up on the blog John's Reading.

Money quote:

While this could quite easily be a simple story of someone reliving his life as he waited for his death, and still been a good story Cook manages a final, rather intriguing, twist as a finale.

Check it out!

.

The Blood Magic series: STILL AVAILABLE as e-books!

2010-12-07T08:45:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder...

I've received some requests lately, asking me where to obtain copies of my books Blood Magic and Nights of Sin. I've checked around, and found that Amazon has used copies of Book 1 available, and still has new copies of Book 2, -OR- you can order multiformat e-book editions at Fictionwise.com. If you haven't bought an e-book before, don't worry - these are licensed editions, which means that purchasing copies helps the authors, just like purchasing paper books. And you don't even need a Kindle or other e-reader - versions are available that display right on your PC. Multiformat e-books will display on any e-reader, or can be viewed on a PC or Mac as a PDF file.

Here are links - you can download the full manuscript here, or view sample chapters of both books:

Blood Magic on Fictionwise: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b54476/Blood-Magic/Matthew-Cook/?si=0

Nights of Sin on Fictionwise: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b73241/?si=0

Happy Holidays!

-Matt

Suck, suckier, suckiest (AKA: The Walking Dead finale)...

2010-12-06T22:34:00.005-05:00

So... AMC's The Walking Dead. Awesome comic series, that should have been a totally awesome TV series, right? I mean... you have the director of The Shawshank Redemption... the producer of Aliens... and, basically, a 100% storyboarded work of top-notch zombie fiction, featuring awesome characters facing mind-bending circumstance and life-altering events. All the film-makers really had to do was shoot what they had scripted for them, and follow Robert Kirkman's incredible manuscript. Hell, they even had the shots laid out for them in advance, thanks to illustrators Tony Moore's and Charlie Adlard's amazing pencils and moody, minimalist inks.

Instead... what we got was a murky, cliche-riddled piece of junk.

I mean... seriously. I watched every one of Season 1's six episodes on the night they aired, filled with a growing sense of dread. Not because of the impending zombie apocalypse (convincingly and chillingly captured in episode 1 - easily the series best episode), but rather because of the "additional stuff" that the series authors decided to add to Kirkland's solid story. Instead of a tightly-focused, character-driven story of a tightly-knit band of survivors, director Frank Darabont decided to give us drunken neo-nazi hillbillies shootin' at stuff (maybe to attract the "Sarah Palin's Alaska" demographic?), stereotyped LA-style "homie" gangbangers (hey... isn't this supposed to be Atlanta, 'ese?), weak-ass plot devices that seem inserted at random and are abandoned just as easily ("I told you this Winebago wouldn't make it very far... no, wait, now it's working!"), and a host of other confusing, unnecessary crap.

Episode 6 was the the series nadir in every way. Totally absent was the zombie horde, replaced with long, boring scenes shot in... someone's basement. Oh yeah, and lots of eating, drinking and showering. And some arguments, mainly about whether or not someone will open a door. They even did the unthinkable in the zombie genre: tried to explain the source of the impossibility of the walking dead. No, no NO, guys... that never works. really. Seriously. It's always a bad idea. You really can't do any better than "but the dead... they WALK!" Mystery only adds to the power.

'Nuff said.

To add insult to a pretty grievous injury, episode 6's "explosive climax" is exactly that: an explosion, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that when Hollywood is stuck for a story idea, the answer is always "well... we could try blowin' some shit up!"

And blow shit up they did, specifically a really fake CGI model of the Center For Disease Control, using a weak-ass computer-generated flame effect that looks like it came from a 1992 MTV music video.

Nauseating. No... worse than that. Lazy.

I've seen reviews online all day talking about how amazing the series was, and I suppose that, if you've never read the comic, or had to work even a little bit at imagining just how terrible such an event would be, then sure, The Walking Dead was at least better than the usual dreck... But do yourself a favor: if you liked the series, go pick up a few of the comic's collected editions. Read them, and see just how much better they are. How much tighter and better-written they are. How much more dramatic and tense and gut-wrenching and overall BAD-ASS they are. then ask yourself... "If they'd just made THIS, and left out all the other confusing, 'been there, seen that a million times already' crap, how much better would the series have been?"

Guess we'll never know.

Sorry, but for me, The Walking Dead, Season 1 is a huge missed opportunity and a disappointment. I wanted to love it, I really did, but in the end, all it did was leave a bad taste in my mouth. In the wake of the recent announcement that Darabont has fired the entire Season 1 writing staff in favor of freelancer-written scripts, all I can say is... better luck next time, guys. I hope you can get me interested enough to tune in next year. Because as of now, I'm thinking I won't tune in.

.

Another positive review...

2010-12-06T15:47:00.002-05:00

Gareth Jones just posted a positive mini-review of The Shoe Factory over on SF Crow's Nest - read all about it here:

http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/articles/books/2010/Interzone-no-231-15674.php

I've received several positive comments on the story's mingling of past/present tense, which is somehting I'm really thrilled to see. As a writer, I find it interesting to play with concepts of time, specifically how my characters interact with and move through time, and I always worry that I'm going to lose people with such odd shifts back and forth. Readers of my first novel, Blood Magic, will remember that I used an alternating current time/flashback structure, which some advance readers warned me "w0uld turn off readers" (or which would "piss off editors").

So very, very happy that this has not turned out to be the case...

.

First reax to The Shoe Factory...

2010-12-01T11:08:00.003-05:00

From Twitter user Vanamonde_Dpan:

It's been a while since a story had an emotional impact on me but 'The Shoe Factory' by Matthew Cook..wow.

From Blogger Anthony Williams:

"The Shoe Factory by Matthew Cook, illustrated by Ben Baldwin. A man keeps being distracted from his solitary mission on a doomed spacecaft by spells of reliving a past life with a former girlfriend. Can he escape by recreating his former existence? A strange story with a complex structure; I wasn't sure what was going on until the end (and I wasn't entirely certain even then)."

Guess I can't complain about the later review - it *was* kinda what I was going for, after all...

Have you run across any other reviews of the story, or of anything else in Issue #231 of Interzone? If so, please let me know!

.

Interzone is OUT!! Get it now...

2010-11-22T15:36:00.003-05:00

Issue #231 of Interzone (Nov-Dec 2010) is OUT! The Shoe Factory is the first short story in the lineup.

You can purchase copies at places like Barnes and Noble - copies are hidden usually in with sci-fi/fantasy story mags like Realms of Fantasy, Analog and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (look on the bottom shelves if you don't see them). Don't be afraid to call ahead or ask the friendly counter workers for a copy if you can't find it. You can also order copies from the TTA/Interzone web site HERE.

Thanks so much to my amazing writer's group Columbus Writeshop, who provided first-draft critiques of the story, as well as to my friend Sherrian Gildemeister, who assisted me with some crucial details. Your comments and suggestions really helped! Thanks also to the editors over at Interzone, who read (and liked) the story enough to give me precious column space...

Kinds words for "Shoe Factory"...

2010-11-10T15:52:00.004-05:00

I know it's weird to blog about someone's blogging, but I just saw this nice preview over on Jason Sanford's site. He says some really nice things about "The Shoe Factory" which I, attention whore that I am, find it impossible to not re-post. Thank you, Jason.

As far as Jason's stuff goes, I've only read one of the three stories he has in the forthcoming issue of Interzone, "Millisent Ka Plays in Realtime" (full disclosure: Jason and I sometimes participate together in the Columbus Writeshop writer's critique group, and have been critiquing each other's work for a while now, mainly to MY benefit, I admit...). It's an odd and totally "Jason-esque" tale of hierarchies based on music, and the power of melody, one that I really enjoyed reading. Jason's stuff is usually somewhat skewed (in a delightful, thought-provoking way) and ALWAYS depressingly well written (sigh). I mean, come on... take a listen to this prose:

This isn’t the way the future should be. But still, here it is. And here’s Millisent Ka, born to a doting mother and father in a neo-feudal musical fiefdom, their cement-dusted house perfectly balanced between the cracked asphalt plains of L.A. la la land and the rich-fool castles on the Pacific Palisades. Never mind that those castles rise so far above everything else – hopes, dreams, reality – it’s hard to remember only dirt and rock exist beneath their gilded skies, same as anywhere else.

All of Jason's writing that I've seen shares this almost lyrical tone, carrying the reader along effortlessly. If you're anything like me, you'll find the last paragraph arrives all too soon. I can't wait to read the other two stories in the forthcoming issue!

.

More info: Interzone and The Shoe Factory

2010-11-09T17:45:00.003-05:00

Interzone Magazine posted a preview of my soon-to-be-released short story, "The Shoe Factory", over on their site. You can read all about the line-up (featuring several pieces written by the most-excellent Jason Sanford), as well as see the cool artwork they commissioned for the piece HERE.

Be on the lookout for the issue, which is #231 (Nov/Dec). It should be on store shelves soon, or you can order it right from the Interzone Web Site store.

Full Welcome to Bordertown lineup

2010-11-03T10:29:00.003-04:00

OK, last Bordertown post today, I promise...

I wasn't sure if this was "official" or not, but since Ellen Kushner's officially blogged it, it must be OK to release this. Here's the full lineup of stories, poems/song lyrics and graphic tales from the upcoming collection - look at those names!

Introduction - Terri Windling
Introduction - Holly Black
Bordertown Basics (Letter from the Diggers)
Welcome to Bordertown - Terri Windling & Ellen Kushner
Shannon's Law - Cory Doctorow
Cruel Sister (poem) - Patricia A. McKillip
Voice Like a Hole - Catherynne M. Valente
Stairs in Her Hair (song*) - Amal El-Mohtar
Incunabulum - Emma Bull
Run Back to the Border (song) - Steven Brust
Prince of Thirteen Days - Alaya Dawn Johnson
The Sages of Elsewhere - Will Shetterly
Soulja Grrrl: A Long Line Rap (song) - Jane Yolen
Crossings - Janni Lee Simner
Fair Trade (Comic) - Sara Ryan & Dylan Meconis
Lullabye: Night Song for a Halfie (song) - Jane Yolen
Our Stars, Our Selves - Tim Pratt
Elf Blood - Annette Curtis Klause
The Wall (poem) - Delia Sherman
Ours is the Prettiest - Nalo Hopkinson
We Do Not Come in Peace - Christopher Barzak
A Borderland Jump-Rope Rhyme (poem) - Jane Yolen
The Rowan Gentleman - Cassandra Clare & Holly Black
The Song of the Song (song) - Neil Gaiman
A Tangle of Green Men - Charles de Lint

.

And another B'town plug...

2010-11-03T10:24:00.003-04:00

Ellen Kushner herself has blogged about what is now officially The Giving Of The Book (at least, in Matt's world, that's what I'm calling it). Read about it HERE.

.

Another Bordertown teaser...

2010-11-03T10:06:00.004-04:00

For anyone who might not have seen it, my last post on Bordertown has already generated a comment from one of the new series writers, Annette Curtis Klause. She's blogged about the series and her participation in the new volume on her blog site HERE. Annette wrote the story "Elf Blood" in the upcoming collection.

She's also (if I may be so bold as to rip directly from her Wikipedia entry), published four novels for young adults: The Silver Kiss (1990, Delacorte), Alien Secrets (1993, Delacorte), Blood and Chocolate (1997, Delacorte), and Freaks: Alive on the Inside (2006, Margaret K. McElderry). From 1982 through 1994, she contributed book reviews to the School Library Journal.

Thanks, Annette!

The triumphant return of BORDERTOWN!!

2010-11-01T17:21:00.008-04:00

The best news of World Fantasy, hands-down, was the announcement by Holly Black and Ellen Kusher of a brand new Bordertown anthology, titled Welcome to Bordertown.

For those who may be reading this who haven't heard of them: Bordertown was a shared-world series created in 1985 by Terri Windling and Mark Arnold. This was the true precursor of the "Urban Fantasy" movement, a literary sub-genre where the familiar tropes of the fantasy story - elves, magic, glamours, and the power of love and music - intersected with a tough, gritty urban setting and fully developed, three-dimensional characters. They were also, interestingly, consciously targeted at both adult readers as well as what we'd now call "Young Adult" readers, all in a time well before the emergence of Harry Potter and the like, making the series doubly ground-breaking. As Holly Black eloquently said in a panel (and which I'm paraphrasing here): "...everyone writing Urban Fantasy owes a word of thanks to the Bordertown series".

I wholeheartedly agree.

My own history with Bordertown is very personal (buy me a few drinks at a conference sometime and I'm sure you can pry the whole, sordid story out of me), but suffice to say that I'm excited almost beyond the capacity for words that Ellen and Holly have somehow managed to rejuvenate the Bordertown franchise. I was lucky enough to get my grubby mitts on an advance reader copy of the collection (thank you, Holly!), and was thrilled to see stories from such B'town alum as Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Jane Yolen and Terri Windling herself mixed with the work of amazing new writers who came after the series went dormant almost 13 years ago: Corey Doctorow; Catherynne M. Valente; Janni Lee Simner; Christopher Barzak; and others.

I’m reading the book now and will put up a review soon – check back here in a week or so. In the meantime, mark your calendars to remind yourself to look for Welcome to Bordertown in May of 2011 from Random House!

World Fantasy, 2010!

2010-11-01T17:13:00.005-04:00

I spent the weekend attending the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus. This annual event is held for publishing professionals from all over the globe, and is where deals in Fantasy and Horror publishing are made for the upcoming year. Oh, and for fans (who can afford the hefty membership price, that is...) and fellow writers, it’s also a wonderful opportunity to meet legendary contributors in the field and to hear them talk about all the basic fundamentals of writing.

As an event, it’s quite frankly wonderful: this year, I was able to meet and talk with authors Walter Jon Williams, Mike Stackpole, Delia Sherman, L.E. Modessitt, Gene Wolfe, Steve Donaldson, Holly Black and a host of others. I also got to meet (or to meet again) editor and publisher luminaries like Ellen Kushner, Gordon Van Gelder, Gardner Dozois, Ellen Datlow, and Tom Doherty. There were also plenty of new and fresh faces, all belonging to writers and editors I’ve never met before, who I won’t list in details here (suffice to say, thanks to you all for your witty conversation and your many, many tips on the craft and business of writing). Truly, there isn’t a better place for any serious author of Horror or Fantasy literature than this gathering.

That said, just as in previous years I’ve attended WFC, I did get somewhat overwhelmed halfway through the event. There’s just something… intimidating… something humbling in the primal sense of the word by the act of walking through rooms populated by such talent. It can (and does) take the breath away.

Bottom line: World Fantasy ain't a place for the faint-of-heart.. YES everyone's wonderful and YES they're encouraging, but... damn. It's just difficult to talk to an author with 25+ novels under their belt, books I've literally grown up reading and not ask yourself tough questions like "What the hell am I doing, thinking I can write this shit?" I did finally get my head together in time to attend some great panels on Sunday, but apologies to anyone I may have been speaking with on Saturday afternoon, particularly, if I looked distracted or scatterbrained – it wasn’t you; it was just my brain melting, and I really did enjoy meeting you all.

Why strong female characters are bad for women...

2010-10-13T16:34:00.003-04:00

Just ran across an interesting article over on Overthinking It titled "Why Strong Female Characters Are Bad For Women". It's got some interesting points, particularly for you writerly types who, I know, are always on the hunt for interesting characters. His thesis, and I agree with it, is that what the world needs is not more "strong" (as in man-like) female characters, but rather more "weak" (as in flawed) ones. Here's a quote:

"This Super Strong Female Character is almost like a Mary Sue, except instead of being perfect in every way because she’s a stand-in for the author, she’s perfect in every way so the male audience will want to bang her and so the female audience won’t be able to say, “Tsk tsk, what a weak female character!” It’s a win-win situation.

Except no."

"The Shoe Factory" to appear in Interzone!

2010-09-22T11:01:00.008-04:00

I just got good news from Andrew Cox, the editor over at Interzone Magazine: my short story, "The Shoe Factory", will appear in an upcoming issue! Details on recent acceptances can be found here.

No details yet on which issue it will appear in, but it should be coming soon - I'll be sure to drop notice when I know more.

Over the years, Interzone (a British Science Fiction bi-monthly published by TTA Press) has published works from top-notch writers such as William Gibson, Stephen Baxter, J.G. Ballard, Alastair Reynolds, Terry Pratchett and Jason Sanford. Interzone has also been nominated 25 consecutive times times for the Hugo Award for best semiprozine, winning the award in 1995. It has also published several works which have won the British Science Fiction Award.

Having a piece accepted by such a prestigious magazine is indeed an honor, and I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to proofread the story and offer me comments and suggestions, including: Amy Szabo, Jason Sanford, Sherrian Gildemeister and the members of Columbus Writeshop (the best damn writer's group in the Known Universe) - my work, as always, is worlds better for your help and involvement.

.

Another black-out - so sorry...

2010-09-22T10:46:00.004-04:00

Yes, I know... It's been weeks since my last update - my sincere apologies. The simple fact is that I've had nothing new to report or really talk about for a while, and blogging about the hours I put in at my day job and my hobbies is just a *wee* narcissistic I think . I don't know how it is with anyone else, but when I find myself uninspired, just putting in my hours to pay the bills, I chose to save every last iota of creative energy for my daily writing. That means that blogging comes last.

In this age of constant contact I know that statement is tantamount to heresy, but it's just how I operate. If you just can't get enough of me (um... right), I still post on Facebook - please feel free to look me up there if you feel so inclined. In that much more casual environment I post mainly fun links and other distractions, but this space I save for other things.

I'm posting here now because I *do* have an announcement coming - I'll post it in a separate thread. This space I wanted to reserve for an apology for my absence, as well as a continued nod of thanks and gratitude for all of you who, through your messages and emails, keep me enthusiastic about this craft called writing. So: danke, gratze, gratias agimus, obrigado, tack, diakuiu, gracias, arigato and do jeh!

.

Mechanical Chimerias, Oh MY!!!

2010-04-05T15:05:00.005-04:00

Lucy Snyder is a wonderful writer, excellent editor and a good (if distant) friend. When I began to first take writing seriously, I joined Writeshop, a Columbus-based writer's workshop. Lucy was one of the best reviewers there, and always provided unflinching critiques of my work, some which stung, others which... OK, all of them stung. I really did suck back then, and needed the help, and anyone who's been following this blog for a while doubtless knows how much I've benefited as a writer from their sage advice.

Lucy's moved on since our days in Writeshop, and has enjoyed wonderful success. Her recent book Chimeric Machines just won the 2009 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry, and her other books and novels have been published with gratifying regularity over the years. Here's a link to the book page, where you can order a special, signed edition:

http://www.creativeguypublishing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=71

My recommendation? Buy a copy now! Congrats on the book and on the award, Lucy - you've earned it!

..

Sorry for the blackout...

2010-04-05T14:50:00.003-04:00

.

Sorry for the news blackout folks... I've been trying to post less... um... random crap here (that's what Facebook is for... heh), and my everyday j.o.b. has been challenging. Don't worry though - I'm still writing every day and finishing new works. Anyone with specific questions can, of course, message me here or at imagox@yahoo.com.

Second, I got a nice comment from a user on an old post of mine about a controversial art show I attended back in art school at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago - the original post can be found HERE.

(URL for the link-impared: http://bloodmagicbooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/limbaugh-slammed-on-air.html )

Last, if you like this blog, are on Facebook, and want to see more day-to-day type stuff, please feel free to view and follow my page:

(URL:
http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=900#!/Matt.Cook.Columbus?ref=profile )

I'm sure there's a better way to do this than sending you right to my profile page, so of anyone has any ideas please feel free to let me know.

Thanks, and look for writing updates soon!

..

Words to study and remember...

2010-02-03T10:42:00.005-05:00

.

With all the current hubub in the mainstream media echo-chamber re: the "Right's" current accusations against the "Panty-Bomber" being read his Miranda Rights and being tried in a civilian court (as opposed to escalating him to the status of "soldier" by trial in a military tribunal), I think it's high time we look at the comments of one Judge William Young (who presided over the "Shoe Bomber" Richard Reed's trial). Reed, you will recall, was tried in civilian court by the Bush administration, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Besides the fact that the authorities now say that the Panty-Bomber is co-operating with officials and giving them useful intelligence (assisted by his family, who no doubt are assisting since no torture or military coercion was employed in his interrogation), the larger issue is that Reed was indeed tried in open court with all steps of the process transparent and visible to the world, and even with these "handicaps" (as the Cheneys of the world would call them for some strange reason), he was still found guilty and made an example of. Sad that people like Rove feel that politically they are so weak (and that the American public is so gullible) that all they can do is attack the administration for performing their core responsibility - upholding the Constitution.

A partial transcript back from 2003 is HERE, but below is my favorite part. Check this out and try to imagine the message that this sent to the would-be terrorists. A little purple at times, to be sure, but I think the Judge can be forgiven his enthusiasm (bold emphasis mine):

We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before.
There is all too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for justice.
You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist.
You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist.
To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not treat with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.
So war talk is way out of line in this court. You're a big fellow. But you're not that big. You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense Trooper Santiago had it right when first you were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were and he said you're no big deal.
You're no big deal...
It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea.
It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's seek that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their, their representation of you before other judges. We care about it. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties.
Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here, in this courtroom, and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done.
The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged, and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.
See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag still stands for freedom. You know it always will. Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.

Furries... kinda.

2010-01-11T11:32:00.010-05:00

.

Yiff that, fanboy... (linkage for the F'book impaired: http://xkcd.com/629/)

(Clicky for bigger...)

Don't get it? You're probably happier that way.

On a different note... Here's a 100% accurate recreation of Amy signing her mortgage papers... (link: http://xkcd.com/616/)

(Clicky for bigger...)

Ah, XKCD... how I love theee... =)
..

Coolest thing ALL YEAR,

2010-01-08T12:47:00.003-05:00

..

Check out this AWESOME 3D simulation of Sully Sullenburger's famout crash-landing on the Hudson. Recreated from detailed maps and historic data. The coolest part is listening to Sully announce the problem and decide to ditch in the river, all while sounding completely calm and in control.

As someone who has flown out of this NYC airport several times, I know I want someone like Sully at the controls the next time - he's the ICE MAN.

(Link for all the Facebook peeps: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/07/hudson-river-landing-real_n_415081.html)

EMBED:

..

FAIL!

2010-01-08T12:09:00.003-05:00

.

Best Fails of 2009. Painful to watch, but worth it. My favorite is the guy who face-kicks the running shoplifter at 1:40 or so.

(LINK for Facebook peeps: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1927354)

Enjoy!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Techno Jeep!

2009-12-30T19:37:00.003-05:00

.

For my daughter (who has a Jeep)... TECHNO JEEPAGE!

..

Move your money?

2009-12-30T11:44:00.004-05:00

.

When I'm not writing, I work in the online financial services industry. I currently have my money in a large, "Too Big To Fail" national bank. I've been happy with them - their home and remote banking systems are top-notch and I feel safe and secure using their tools. As a security specialist, I think they're contentious and care about keeping me and my money safe.

And yet, I'm thinking about moving ALL my money out of them and into a local Community Bank or Credit Union. Why?

Because I fundamentally disagree with all the greed and deregulation that big banks have imposed on us, their customers. 2008 and 2009's most recent round of huge bailouts and the banks' resulting REDUCTION of lending capital (all while posting record profits, don't forget), has me soured on the Big Banks, even though as a consumer I like many of the positive and forward-looking security and rewards products they've put in place.

Recently on HuffPo, I saw an article on the "Move Your Money" movement and decided that it makes sense. Why keep empowering these large institutions to screw me sans lube? Why not put my money into my local community, where it will make the most impact? Why not?

The link above contains a pretty shmaltzy movie promoting this idea, but I don't hold that against the authors of the plan. There's also a link there for the site MoveYourMoney.info, which has a handy community bank locator - just type in your zip code and it will direct you to local banks in your area.

As of this posting Credit Unions are NOT on the list, but the site admins promise to have them added in early 2010. As soon as I do, you can guarantee I'll be shopping for a new bank. Sucks that it's come to this, but getting Rewards Points on my Visa or a spiffy iPhone app that lets me log into my accounts remotely (as cool as they are) aren't worth getting screwed in the bigger ways that matters.

Anyway, check it out and Happy New Year!!

..

Geek Alert! How to change a Nook eReader into a Pocket PC!!

2009-12-16T15:24:00.002-05:00

.

Wow... check THIS out. Any bets on how long it will take Barnes and Noble to lock this shit down?

Money quote:

"Before you tut, toss your head and mutter ’so what?’ like some petulant teenager, think about the uses. The Nook is now a computer running a full Android operating system, with a built-in, free cellular connection to the internet. It also has a battery that lasts days, not hours. Now are you getting excited? This could turn into the Roomba of e-readers, only it won’t suck."

When Robots Attack!

2009-12-10T21:15:00.002-05:00

.

The coolest 5 minutes I spent today... by far. Here's a LINK if the embedded video isn't displaying (sorry Facebook peeps).

Hat tip for the link - my new favorite site io9. Thanks!!

.

New iPhone App For Poor AT&T Service - FINALLY!

2009-12-07T18:58:00.009-05:00

.

If you have an iPhone (like I do), you're likely very, very used to slow data flow and dropped calls thanks to AT&T's truly craptacular network service. Using the iPhone on AT&T's network is like driving a Ferarri, but instead of rolling along on race compound steel-belted radials, some idiot thought it would be a good idea to bolt on wooden wagon wheels... then said you can never swap wheels! Actually, make that three wooden wagon wheels...

Well, now, there's something you can do about it. According to theiphoneblog.com:

AT&T has released a new iPhone app called AT&T Mark the Spot [Free - iTunes link] intended to allow customers to send in real-time, location-specific feedback about dropped calls, coverage gaps, or other network problems, have occurred.

So... if you have an iPhone and are sick to death of the crappy coverage... do something about it! Hope it helps someone - I know I'll be downloading this ASAP.

UPDATE: Downloaded it and it seems to work. It takes the GPS location of wherever you are, and allows you to enter symptoms such as "Dropped Call", "Poor Voice Quality", "Slow Data Connection" and others. Plus you can comment on the frequency and leave notes. After you submit, you get a text confirmation back from AT&T (which I hope they don't charge you for).

..

Quote of the day...

2009-12-04T14:59:00.003-05:00

.

Andrew Sullivan just put this up as his latest "Poseur Alert"... Not to disagree with Mr. Sullivan, but I see the following as a reasonable (if difficult to find) goal for an adult relationship, one worth striving for.

And not to brag, but I think I've finally found the woman described below. Take it away, Brother West:

"The basic problem with my love relationships with women is that my standards are so high -- and they apply equally to both of us. I seek full-blast mutual intensity, fully fledged mutual acceptance, full-blown mutual flourishing, and fully felt peace and joy with each other. This requires a level of physical attraction, personal adoration, and moral admiration that is hard to find. And it shares a depth of trust and openness for a genuine soul-sharing with a mutual respect for a calling to each other and to others. Does such a woman exist for me? Only God knows and I eagerly await this divine unfolding. Like Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship in Emily Bronte’s remarkable novel Wuthering Heights or Franz Schubert’s tempestuous piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat (D.960) I will not let life or death stand in the way of this sublime and funky love that I crave!" - Cornell West, in his new memoir.

How to spot an email scam!

2009-12-02T11:28:00.003-05:00

.

Having spent the weekend reloading my parents' spam-infested PC, I thought that it might be a good time to link to a useful article on how to spot potential email scams. As an internet security professional (of sorts), I see the fallout from these sorts of phishing scams every day, and I hate it when I see some poor bastard getting his checking account cleared out by a hacker.

I'm not saying that my folks actually fell prey to any of these but... (ahem!)

Read it. Learn it. Live it. If you follow these 10 simple rules, you'll be fine.

Hope this helps someone!

..

Progress...

2009-12-02T10:12:00.004-05:00

.

It's all over the web by now that the new Bioware game Dragon Age contains a love scene between two men. Well, OK, one man and one elf, anyway. If you don't believe me, here's a vid:

I'm sure that the fundie-pundits will gnash their teeth and bemoan this turn of events. All I can see is a very cliched love scene (complete with suitably stirring choral music) and "artsy" dissolve shots. Really, this sort of montage was already old and hoary when Sarah Conner doinked Kyle Reese in the Terminator.

But I digress... At least this is progress, and I would have loved to have sat in on the development meetings where they debated whether or not to include this option. Good for you, Bioware!

But I gotta ask... what's with the elf's very bad Antonio Bandaras impression??

..

Gaywad...

2009-11-20T15:05:00.003-05:00

.

Yeah, baby... this is just dipped in 24-carat awesomness... Enjoy!

..

We're going to the MOON, baby!!!

2009-11-13T12:56:00.003-05:00

Exciting news! NASA just reported that, due to their recent bombing of the Moon, they think they've discovered an area of "hydrogen-rich deposits covered by dessicated regolith" at the south pole!

That means "water" to you and me. At least... probably. Hopefully.

That also means that one of the biggest hurdles to establishing a permanent manned moon base (i.e. access to water) may be solved. I don't know about you, but I'd like to retire in a condo facing the east slope of the Apeninne Mountain range, just off the Sea of Serenity. Low gravity, awesome night skies and a daily "Earthrise"... Count me in!

For Scott - "OG" Star Wars

2009-11-13T12:18:00.005-05:00

.

My friend Scott is a huge Star Wars fan and a master-class costumer. I ran across this the other day and thought he'd like it.

I gotta admit: I found something strangely appealing about a rapping Obi-Wan wearing Flavor Flav's big honking clock medallion. And hey... Lea in the gold bikini... 'nuff said.

In the end, however, this ended up feeling like a Luke Ski filk piece (i.e. it shoulda ended about 2 minutes before it actually did). Still funny though. Enjoy!

ALL NEW! Star Wars Gangsta Rap: Chronicles

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Atom Originals | Star Wars Gangsta Rap

Galaxy Wars!

2009-11-12T10:26:00.002-05:00

.

Sorry to do this to you, but kiss your day goodbye.

(Hat tip: Random Good Stuff)
..

iPhone as sketchbook?

2009-11-11T08:50:00.006-05:00

.

I've been reading quite a bit lately about the Brushes iPhone app. Apparantly, George Columbo, one of the New Yorker cover artists often uses the app to make paintings of NYC on his iPhone, paintings of sufficiently high quality to grace the covers of that august publication. Check it out:

More amazing images can be found in the Brushes artists' gallery HERE, but some others I really liked are copied below. Guess I'll have to check it out - the idea of having such a highly-powered art app always in my pocket is, in a word, intoxicating.

Goro Fujita :

David Tessier:

..

Genesis of the iMac

2009-11-06T10:49:00.007-05:00

Just read an interesting article on the creation of the 'iMac" name and the "Think Different" ad campaign over on the CultofMac website. The interview is with Ken Segall, an advertising exec working with Steve Jobs in the 90's when the whole "iMac revolution" was brewing.

While I admit to having... personal problems... with the way Apple does things (limitation of customization, chafing under an operating system that often feels like it sacrifices completeness and flexibility for some ill-defined notion of "simpleness" that makes everyone work the same), I have to admit that phrases like this are very interesting to me:

Segall was still consulting for Apple until a couple of years ago when he started working for Dell.

“Dell and Apple: It’s night and day,” Segall says. “It’s a transactional world Dell lives in. It’s all about numbers. Everything they say about Apple making products for themselves is true. Apple — it’s about changing the world. For everyone else, it’s about the money.”

In case you don't know it, during my days I work as a Product Manager, and it really is intriguing to me that a company as large as Apple still retains this sort of reverence for individual vision over the simple worship of the bottom line.

The real question, as it always is with Apple, is: what will happen when Jobs, for whatever reason, is forced to step down?

You can read te entire interview over at CultofMac HERE.

Blood Magic on the web!

2009-11-05T11:08:00.004-05:00

.

Web alert:

The Blood Magic series was just mentioned by guest blogger Jason Sanford over on Jeff Vandermeer's blog, Ecstatic Days. Full disclosure: Jason Sanford is a member of Writeshop, the Columbus-based writer's group which critiques all my work.

Click HERE to see the full write-up.

Money quote:

I’m optimistic Matt will find a new publisher for the third book. The reprint rights are also available. So if any publishers are looking for a hot new writer to bring under their wing, two words: Matt Cook!

I should also admit a purely selfish reason for blogging about this: I WANT TO READ THIS FINAL NOVEL! I refuse to fall in love with these characters and their story and not discover how everything turns out.

I'm hopeful as well, and continue to work hard on the series. Now that the publication rights have reverted back to me from Juno, my goal is to try and tempt another published to pick up the entire collection. It's a dream of mine to see all 3 books in a set, perhaps as a trade paperback set (with matching covers) or even, dare I say, a hardcover set. With a slipcase! ((Swoon!))

Of course, I gotta finish that pesky third book, first... Never fear though - it's coming along. Perhaps not as quickly as the other books (particularly Book 2, which was written in about 8 months total), but it will be done!

I miss you, Carl...

2009-10-15T16:31:00.011-04:00

.

Most of my readers probably don't know it, but I actually knew Carl Sagan. I won't say we were buddies - I was just a kid all the times I met him at various talks and symposiums and I'm sure he wouldn't have remembered me if I met him on the street - but I always was deeply, deeply enthralled by his vision of what mankind might just be able to accomplish in the future. His enthusiasm, passion and, yes, joy for learning and expanding the sphere of human knowledge was just as wonderfully infectious when I was a kid first watching the Cosmos PBS series as today.

A small piece of that passion can be found in this video. I know it's "gone viral" by now and doesn't need the hits, but I link it here primarily in the memory of a wonderful man and his amazing vision of "what can be". I admit it: I cried a little bit when I first saw this. If you don't understand this, or know where the original video footage comes from, you must, at the soonest possible moment, go to your local library, check-out the DVD collection of Cosmos and watch it. You'll be happy you did, trust me.

Carl wasn't just a physicist... he was a philosopher and a dreamer and an amazing writer possessing the rarest of abilities: he could merge the language of science with those of art and inspiration. Hearing him speak again in the video below reminded me of just how eloquent he really was, and I think he would have liked this funky auto-tuned remix of Cosmos.

I think this line from the chorus says it best:

"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."

Take it away, Carl - you are deeply, deeply missed...

UPDATE: I just saw that the audio track and a higher-rez version of the video are available as a free download at Colorpulse Music - click HERE for the download page. Instructions on downloading and saving different versions are there.

..

The critical importance of fear...

2009-10-13T16:50:00.004-04:00

.

I was reading today that Spike Jonze, the director of the new film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, is being criticized for making his movie... you know... actually scary, like the book.

From the linked article:

Spike Jonze recalls how Maurice Sendak urged him to make the movie version of "Where the Wild Things Are" as dangerous as the book was when the children's classic came out in 1963.
The question now is whether Jonze made it too dangerous.

The article goes on to say:

At a test screening of an early cut, some children found the wild things creepy and scary.

Rather than snatching the $80 million project away from Jonze, Warner decided to give him more time. Jonze reshot some scenes, and he spent the past year applying computer animation to create the facial expressions on his wild things, which were shot live on set using actors inside giant monster suits.

The result certainly is more challenging, and potentially more rewarding, than many family films.

Creepy? Scary? Well... DUH! Good for you, Warner Brothers, for accurately interpreting a classic book and not bowing to lowest-common-denominator fears about what is or is not too intense for a kid (particularly when the story is as complex as Sendek's classic tale).

I remember WTWTA very, very well. I had a love/hate relationship with the book literally since the first time my Dad read it to me, one that I still retain. Any time I open the book, even as an adult, I get a chill. There's just something so creepy and otherworldly in the sequence when Max's room transforms into a forest. It freaked me out as a boy and it's still, in my opinion, simply captivating.

And then, when Max decides to sail away home, and the Wild Things stand on the shore and scream "we love you so much we'll eat you up!" (presumably so they can rend him limb-from-limb in the intensity of their devotion)... Shudder.

The evoking of fear here was crucial, and is why I no doubt remember the book when hordes of others have been forgotten. As a writer myself, one that deals with fear issues in his work all the time, I'm still hopeful that I might create something a fraction as enduring as Sendek's story.

Fear and dread is not, to say the least, the usual reaction a children's book evokes, but it's one that definitely set in my child's mind an expectation of just how engaging a well-written story can be. Now it looks like I can expect some of the same challenges in the film. Yay!!

I was excited to see the film before, but now I'm practically jumping out of my seat. As the father of a young son, I wonder if he'll find the film as terrifying and spellbinding as I did when my Dad read it aloud to me.

One can hope...

For Mom - Face-Melting Accordion!

2009-10-08T21:36:00.003-04:00

.

This one's for my mom, who used to play the accordion when she was younger. I'm sure she was almost this good... (cough! cough!).

..

Joss Whedon on 826NYC - Listen and DONATE!!

2009-09-29T12:35:00.003-04:00

.

Have to be quick here - I'm on a break at my new job (yay!)

Just learned that Joss Whedon (the creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Angel and, most recently, Dollhouse) gave a great interview on his writing/work process with This American Life's Ira Glass recently over on 826NYC. This organization is dedicated to:

826NYC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18
with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers
inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief
that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that
strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this in mind we
provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools
tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student
publications. All of our free programs are challenging and enjoyable, and
ultimately strengthen each student's power to express ideas effectively,
creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.

You can listen to the entire interview via streaming audio HERE - it's really entertaining!

Please note that you can also donate to 826NYC's mission from that same page - if you support the goal of teaching creative writing to children, please donate $5, $10 or whatever you can spare to this great cause.

Thanks Ira and Joss and thanks to everyone out there who chooses to donate!

..

Thus spake...

2009-09-20T21:10:00.002-04:00

.

OMFG... this is the funniest thing I've ever heard that almost simultaneously killed me.

Strauss... as performed by a grade-school orchestra. Be sure to crank your speakers. Seriously.

Enjoy.

..

It. Has. Begun.

2009-09-10T07:44:00.007-04:00

.

UPDATE for fans of the Blood Magic books!

Now that I'm employed once again and the awful monkey of unemployment is off my back, I've decided to begin Blood Magic Book 3! That's right - we'll all finally learn what happens to Kirin, Lia, the Mor and everything/everyone else!

I never set out to write a fantasy trilogy (that most hackneyed of literary conventions), and yet here I am, contemplating just that. In case you don't know it, the first Kirin Book (Blood Magic) was originally written to be completely stand-alone, and I thought I'd ended it in such a way that no sequel was required or even possible.

Then Paula Guran, my then-editor at Juno, asked me specifically if I had a sequel in me, and seeing as how she was offering to purchase it on nothing more than an outline and her confidence that I could finish it, I decided to give it a go. Book 2 (Nights of Sin) came out better than I could have dreamed, and I'll be forever grateful to Paula and Juno for the opportunity to write it. Now that Juno has been acquired by Pocket Books, there's little chance that Book 3 will be released under the Juno imprint - too bad, but that's just how these things go.

So... what's in store for Book 3? Well, for one thing, I know I'm going to return to the back-and-forth chapter style that I used in Book 1, but rather than alternate past/present events as in that book I'm going to use a shifting POV (point-of-view) between Lia and Kirin. I thought that this would be interesting since (IMHO) Lia's viewpoint and opinions have been sort of given short shrift in the previous books. So far, researching her unique voice and her interpretations of events chronicled in Books 1 and 2 has been very entertaining for me.

Also, you can definitely expect a final explanation of the Mor's reasons and motivations. Why did they invade? Why do they fear humanity? Why do they particularly hate Kirin? Where exactly did humans come from and where might they be going? Who or what is Ico,the Imperial Wizard? All this, and more, will be explained by the last page.

Hopefully this news will come as a welcome thing. I think it will, given the mail and messages you, the readers, have sent me over the past two years. I'd encourage you, as I always do, to mail me at imagox@yahoo.com if you have any lingering questions.

Wish me luck!

..

Burning Man

2009-09-09T08:48:00.004-04:00

I've been wanting to go to the Burning Man celebration for over a decade, mainly because of descriptions like this.

Money quote:

The truth, though, is that Burning Man is an ideal place for self-reflection and self-transformation, whether substance-aided or not, and as someone who's just gotten back from his 8th Burn, Lambert's revelation didn't surprise me a bit. Friends of mine have changed their names, their professions, and their entire lives at Burning Man. And not because they were stoned or tripping, but because Black Rock City -- the temporary city (built and erased within a month) where the event goes on every year, the week before Labor Day -- has a tendency to expand horizons, reveal possibilities, and question the assumptions most of us make about how we're supposed to live our lives.

Image credits...

Maybe next year. Hope so...

..

Stuff Christian Culture Likes (Also For Amy)...

2009-09-07T11:28:00.005-04:00

Ran across this blog site and thought I'd post a link up. It's Stuff Christian Culture Likes, a list of oddments and analysis about, well, "stuff Christian culture likes". The author seems well-suited for this task:

I sort of consider myself an expert on Christian culture as I am a preacher's kid and I'm also married to a preacher's kid. Christian culture is funny because it doesn't have much (if anything) to do with Christ himself.

Overall very funny and occasionally bittersweet and cutting. My favorite so far? "Leaving Perturbed Comments And Signing Them 'Anonymous'" (because that happens here all the time, too).

Amy fave might just be "Coffeehouses" (ask her about it one day!).

BONUS: Of course... (sigh)...

Recommended!

..

Rockabilly (For Amy)

2009-09-05T16:09:00.005-04:00

.

This is for Amy...

.

My girlfriend and I bought a house back in June and have been renovating it. It's a 20's-era house and we're decorating it in 50's era retro, a style she and I both love.

While looking around for stuff, I hit across a wonderful gallery of portraits taken by Jennifer Greenburg documenting the "Rockabilly" sub-culture. Not only are the photos amazing, but the rooms in which the subjects pose become equally important and fascinating characters in the min-stories the portraits tell. Great stuff!

..

EMPLOYMENT!!!

2009-09-03T09:21:00.003-04:00

.

Good news!! I've received a very handsome offer from Yodlee, a Silicon Valley software company, to work for them as a Product Manager. I've been talking to them for weeks now, and it seems as if they feel I'd be a good fit. I'm spending the morning filling out paperwork and working through the details of the offer letter, but it looks like, barring any 11th-hour madness, I'll be employed in the 14th of September!

Thanks to EVERYONE who has sent me emails, calls and support messages over the last 6 months - they really helped. Also thanks to Greg McCrery, who I used to work with at CheckFree, for getting the ball rolling via your recommendation at LinkedIn - this never would have happened without you!

Back to work!!

..

"Oligarh(y)" - UPDATE!

2009-09-02T11:45:00.004-04:00

.

Apparently, Glenn Beck tried to explain the "missing C" in "oligarChy" the following day on his show. Keith Olbermann at MSNBC promptly pulled out a big can of "allow me to respectfully disagree", to wit:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Oh well, at least someone is amused by this.

..

"Oligarh(y)"

2009-08-28T14:48:00.008-04:00

.

Um... WTF is an "Oligarhy"? Can Fox not even afford free interns and copies of Micosoft Word, if for nothing else but the spell-checker?

My opinion: most people watching Glenn Beck can't spell anyway, so they probably figured "why not?" I'd also bet $100 cold, hard cash that if you random-polled 1000 Fox News viewers, 99% would not be able to define what an "oligarchy" is (hint: it's "a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military or religious hegemony")...

...but I bet they'd say they were "a'skeered' of it.

Also... in regards to his little rant at the end about "I'm tired of being a sheep... I'm tired of being pushed around!"

Um. Last I checked, this ass-hat owns a palatial $4.25M manor estate, (hat tip: HuffPo for the link) and enjoys the protections of the 1st Amendment, which allows complete and total tools like this to bilk gullable right-wing nimrods. Oh well... enjoy that house while you can, Glenn, because we all know where this is headed. Personally, I can't wait until Beck joins the likes of Morton Downey Jr. (meaning: he drops of the face of the earth, not dies from lung cancer...)

..

Texting While Driving PSA

2009-08-25T16:09:00.007-04:00

.

Saw this over on HuffPo earlier today and thought I'd cross-link to it here.

I have an 18 year-old daughter who texts literally all the time, often times, I fear, while behind the wheel. She also often has her infant in the car. I really hope she sees this...

There are some interesting links in the original post, some to sites asking the question "does this go too far?"

In a word: no.

In America, most teens learn to drive in an automatic car, which takes little effort and thought to operate. New drivers literally have no idea how much momentum a car picks up at even slower speeds, and, hence, just how dangerous a hurtling chunk of steel, rubber and glass can be (particularly when faced with a head-on collision with another vehicle). Compound those factors with all the distractions faced by new drivers (all cars have stereos now, teens travel in groups and often travel with distracting passengers, all made even worse by the fact that most teens have always-on cell phones at the ready), and you have a recipe for disaster, as this 4:00 minute piece shows.

Warning: this is graphic, but I think it should be safe for work, given the message it hopes to send. Personally, I commend whoever green-lighted this piece's production and airing, and I hope we see a US version soon.

NOTE: CLICK HERE if you can't see the embedded video for some reason.

.

Pins, comma, needles...

2009-08-24T21:28:00.005-04:00

.

So, I went out to California to interview for a job last week with a company that really impressed me. Not to jinx myself, but I hope to hear something one way or the other TOMORROW (as in, Tuesday). It's feeling like it's going pretty well, but I've been around this particular block a few times and I know that wishful thinking can and does distort one's vision. Hopefully this time, I'm seeing 20/20.

Look for an update one way or the other tomorrow.

And now, today's writing tip of the week...

Around 2:00 this afternoon I simply could not stand being in the house for another microsecond, so I decided to avail myself of my new neighborhood's wonderful jogging trail down the Walhalla Ravine. I'll talk about the place more later - for now it's not important. What IS is the fact that, even though I've been chewing over a bit of characterization for my new book for weeks it seems like, the answer occurred to me within 20 minutes of getting out of my house and under the trees, my heart pumping and my conscious mind distracted by thoughts of "Oh, God, oh, God, my legs, my legs hurt they hurt they hurt..." This left my sub-conscious, always my better half when it comes to producing idea breakthroughs clear to 'do it's thang'.

Well worth a bit o' agony, IMHO.

Now, anyone that's been following this blog (and if you haven't, feel free to check out the "Articles on Writing" link on the right link bar) knows that I think quite a lot about WHERE ideas come from and WHAT to do with them once they arrive. In this case, I found it interesting that I was completely stuck for days until I got out of my rut, got out of my house and went out someplace where I could try and see the world (and this is important) through my characters' eyes.

There's more I want to say about this idea, and I'll talk more about this soon in a separate article, but I wanted to share what happened today, just in case someone else is out there, stuck and frustrated and wondering how to get past their most recent bout of block.

Anyway... If you're into all that, send me positive energy/happy thoughts/joy-joy feelings... whatever you cotton to, because I'm hoping for good news tomorrow. Until then, keep dreaming and keep writing every day! It's what writers do.

-M

..

On vacation...

2009-08-09T20:27:00.004-04:00

.

I'm at the beach this week. Here's a shot from the patio of the beach house Mom rented.

Grayson's having a great time playing in the blood-warm water. Now all I have to do is keep him from getting burned to a crisp.

Had some job interviews before I left - hopefully one or more will ripen into a full-fledged offer. That would be so nice. I'm getting some long-delayed editing done down here as well.

..

Blood Magic and Nights of Sin Nominated for Gaylactic Spectrum Award

2009-08-03T08:36:00.003-04:00

.

I was on Juno Books' site last night and saw an announcement that both Blood Magic and Nights of Sin were nominated for the 2009 Gaylactic Spectrum Award. If you haven't heard about this award (I hadn't - sorry), it is:

The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards honor outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy and horror which include significant positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues.
The Gaylactic Network, the premiere organization for gay and lesbian fandom, created the Awards in 1998 because there was no existing avenue for the recognition of outstanding gay-positive work within the genre. In 2002, the Awards struck out on their own, under the auspices of the newly created Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation. The Gaylactic Network remains a primary partner for the Awards. The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation is working on its own incorporation and is seeking to obtain charitable organization status to enhance its ability to inform and educate.

Oftentimes, books and other works can be overlooked - and publishers, authors and artists need to know that their inclusion of gay issues, characters and themes is appreciated. Before the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards, no award had been developed that honored works for both genre content AND gay content. Because speculative fiction offers an opportunity to explore complex and sometimes unpopular issues through the distance of other worlds, times and cultures, we hope the award will encourage professionals working in science fiction, fantasy and horror to use the genre to explore characters and issues of importance to the gay community.

I know it sounds very corny to say that I'm honored to be nominated, but I really, really am. I'm up against some really wonderful writers, so hoping to win is likely nothing but pure hubris, but in this case I truly am honored that someone out there not only read the novels but also thought that the depictions of Kirin and Lia were compelling and positive enough to merit the nomination. Whoever you are - thank you.

The award will be given at this year's Gaylaxicon in Minneapolis on October 9-11. I'm writing the con organizers now to see if I can work out a way to attend - I'm still looking for a full-time job, and money is tight, so a trip to Minneapolis might not be in the cards for me, but we'll see. Either way, wish me luck!

..

A (Edited) Movable Feast...

2009-07-29T07:58:00.002-04:00

.

HuffPo has an interesting piece up about the soon-to-be-released "restored edition" of Hemmingway's classic book, A Movable Feast. It's been a few years since I read the book, so I think a trip to the library is in order. Passionate stuff...

..

ULTIMATE RICKROLL!!!

2009-07-21T16:28:00.001-04:00

.

Oh. My. God.

..

PSA's From The Future!

2009-07-16T16:26:00.001-04:00

.

Saw these on Sullivan's blog and I thought I'd share them, too. Public Service Ads sent back in time from the future!

..

Oh, N0ZE!!!

2009-07-15T19:41:00.001-04:00

.

... there goes the rest of my entire week.

..

'Close Range', the videogame!!

2009-07-02T10:21:00.002-04:00

.

Ah, The Onion... how I doth love thee. The tone of this is just about perfect, and the comments about "deeply developed characters" hits just a wee bit too close to home. The little graphic-novel style interludes (a la Max Payne), are a wonderful little inside joke. Brilliant!!

Hot New Video Game Consists Solely Of Shooting People Point-Blank In The Face

..

Craig's List!

2009-06-17T10:18:00.003-04:00

.

I don't usually enjoy Weird Al's stuff, but this was too clever by half. Plus, he actually got The Doors' Ray Manzarek (warning: Papyrus font used on the linked site!!) to play the distinctive keyboards, which was always my favorite part of any Doors tune. And, hey... the foam peanuts line is just too true.

Enjoy:

..

For Amy - More Papyrus!

2009-06-17T08:40:00.002-04:00

Continuation on the theme... See? It's not just us.

Image: XKCD.

I SHALL have it!

2009-05-26T23:23:00.006-04:00

.

Holy shit... I just found my new dining room table. If you have no idea what this is well... I guess that just means that you're not a gaming geek.

Don't worry - I still respect you.

From the web site:

The Emissary is our hybrid Gaming & Dining table.

Incorporating the same Dropped Play Surface and Layer Cake game surface as the Sultan Gaming Table, the Emissary has the features to take your games to the next level.

All packed into an gorgeous dining room table constructed of solid hardwoods with quality joinery, this table will perform for generations.

There is a place waiting for one in your Home.

Hell yeah, there is, man! ALl for only $1500 - quite a steal. I'm very taken by the "dropped" playing surface. The idea of leaving all my gaming stuff or even half-painted miniatures lying undisturbed in the recessed area, just waiting for my next session is powerfully appealing.

Or... if you have upwards of $9 Large burning a hole in your pocket, you can always go totally nuts and purchase The Sultan which is sot of like the Emissary on rhino steroids. If you're a gamer I double-dog dare you to browse the photos of the Sultan behind that link and not drool. The workmanship looks amazing, and, hey, what more can I say beyond:

The Sultan comes with central dice bay. This is a deep dice rolling area separated from the play area with enough containment to really roll.

Some configurations also have internal dice towers. Throw your dice in the top and let the table give you truly random results below.

Next steps: find a job so I can actually, you know, pay for all that delicious hardwood gaming goodness. No luck yet, I'm afraid, despite a recent interview. Send happy-happy thoughts my way, okee dokee?

..

Where's MY damn solar-powered plane???

2009-05-24T13:18:00.003-04:00

.

This is so cool... a solar-powered "hybrid aircraft, that would need batteries to take off and climb, but then could maintain level fight on solar power, and could also be flown as a glider, with the prop stowed away."

Recently, this plane, called the Sunseeker II, flew across Europe and even crossed the Swiss Alps, all under it's own (battery and solar) steam. What's even cooler (to me), is that:

The Sunseeker II fies slowly enough that it is comfortable with the canopy open.

Also, birds are not afraid and come very close, matching my speed, almost landing on my plane sometimes.

More details about the Sunseeker II and its current European tour can be found HERE. While I'm at it, here's an amazing video of the Alps crossing flight, including some absolutely amazing footage of the pilot opening the cockpit canopy to stick the video camera out the side. Can you imagine having one of these for your daily commute? I know I can...

Alps Crossing from Solar Flight on Vimeo.

All Hailz teh Interwebz!

2009-05-19T21:17:00.003-04:00

.

Wow... from all the way back in '69. But what's with that discordant, anxiety-laden music??

..

Simply lovely...

2009-05-09T20:50:00.000-04:00

.

Caught this over on Sullivan's blog and had to share it here.

Hauschka - Morgenrot from Jeff Desom on Vimeo.

Genesis of a short story: Baba Yaga vs. the Nazi Horde!

2009-05-08T16:50:00.011-04:00

.

Like all writers, I'm often asked that most dreaded of conversational questions: "So... where do you get your ideas?"

It's difficult sometimes to explain to people that coming up with the ideas isn't the hard part - in fact, I'm finding that the more I write, the more ideas I seem to have. Nature, it's been said, abhors a vacuum, and that definitely seems to be the case when it comes to ideas - it's like fresh ones flow in to fill up the spaces left-over as soon as I finish a new piece. It's cool...

Just yesterday, I had an idea for a short story, which I've already finished. I'll run it past my amazing and wonderful review readers to see if it's any good - I really can't tell half the time any more. (My working title is "Baba Yaga vs. The Nazi Horde!". Don't worry - I'll change it before I send it out.)

The cool thing is that, due to the rapidity of the concept and writing process (concept to finished first draft in less than 48 hours is really fast for me), I was able for the first time in a while to actually watch all the pieces fall into place, like building blocks. Or Legos. So, I've decided to document how it happened, just in case it helps someone out there struggling with their own creativity issues.

Anyone who's been reading my posts for the last few months knows that I'm out of work right now. This leaves me time for my favorite past-time: catching movies I'd otherwise miss at my local second run dollar theater.

Also, dollar movies are about all I can afford to do right now. That and go to the library. And fret over my unanswered job applications. Sigh.

...

Anyway...

The other day, I went to see the WWII movie Defiance, starring Daniel Craig. the movie's about Jewish partisans in WWII Belarus, and was quite entertaining.

I also, quite coincidentally, have always been fascinated with the folklore character Baba Yaga, the archetypal witch/crone fairy tale character and prototype for just about every "mean old witch in a gingerbread house." According to legend, Baba Yaga, flies through the air on an enormous mortar and pestle, and lives in a wooden hut that stands on chicken legs. Oh, and she's also a cannibal.

Now, I've been trying to work this myth into one of my stories for years, you have to understand, but I mean, come on. How many stories are actually better with a mortar-and-pestal-riding witch and her dancing, chicken-legged house? Who is also a cannibal? It's a tough sell.

Cut to the other day. I'm sitting in the theater. Daniel Craig's running around shooting Nazis with a MP40 machine gun. People are tossing hand grenades. There are tanks.

"Hmmmm..." I say in my head. "I wonder what would happen if ol' Daniel there got lost in the woods, Hansel and Gretel style, and accidentally ran across someone like, oh, say, Baba Yaga?"

And bam... just like that, I had a story seed. A little watering (via my patented conscious/subconscious 'fret over it' process), and it opened its dark petals, becoming... well... "Baba Yaga vs. the Nazi Horde!"

Of course, not all of my stories are so easy. I'm *still* working on the novella set in Kirin's world, and I've had my fair share of manuscripts that seemed intriguing when I began, only to end up abandoned in despair, half-done, two weeks later. Most will never be picked up again, but at least I wrote enough of them down to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they didn't work and could be safely left beside the road.

So, in closing... If you're a writer, frustrated by a lingering inability to finish projects (I've been there, believe me), I'll say again what I've been saying all along:

Start your day writing, and write as long as possible right up to the time you have to leave for work. Seriously... every day. Or at least Mon.-Fri. Saturday is a bonus, and give yourself a day off on Sunday. You'll need time, after all for:
Pay attention to all the things around you - as my Baba Yaga story shows, everything that happens to you can, when combined with the million odd happens of everyday life, become a story seed.
And... above all else... No matter how bad the story seems, finish it whenever possible and get the damn thing out of your head. Don't worry if it's "a masterpiece" or even "good" - any mechanical or technical issues can easily be fixed in the editing process or through a writer's group, and I promise you... absolutely promise you... that as you clear out the dusty, cobwebbed ideas that have been growing mold up in your mental attic for the last decade or two, other, better ones will flow in!

OK, now go and write something.

..

Daily Papyrus!!!

2009-05-07T15:59:00.007-04:00

.

So... Amy and I have this little game we called "The Daily Papyrus" (Papyrus being an incredibly over-used font, appearing on everything from hippy-dippy organic tea brands to Mexican restaurant signage to... well, you basically see the Goddamned thing everywhere). As we drive around, we fight to see who can notice its usage someplace.

We find examples every single day. Every. Single. Day.

Anyway... This is for you, Amy:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Why cable news sucks...

2009-05-07T11:09:00.003-04:00

.

Go, go Dan Rather!! Modern cable news really is effing ridiculous, isn't it?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Nixon Has a Burrito

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Top 10 Rules of Space Opera...

2009-05-06T17:53:00.004-04:00

.

Um... yeah. This is actually pretty true (much to my chagrin).

Thanks go to Katrina from my writer's group for this. (( Bows )).

Sample rule:

9. There should be a captain. If there is not a captain, there should be a special agent. If there is not a special agent, there should be a cadet with a future. If there is no cadet with a future, there should be a mercenary with a dark past.

If there is no mercenary with a dark past, there should be a wisecracking stowaway. If there is no wisecracking stowaway, there should be a witch. If there is no witch, there should be a scientist. If there is no scientist, just remake Spaceballs.

More rules for would-be Space Opera writers HERE.

..

Hope you liked the new Wolverine movie...

2009-05-06T10:35:00.009-04:00

.

...because you're going to get a lot more like it.

Seriously... do we really need:

Fox is also in the formative stages of a "Wolverine" sequel that will encompass the samurai storyline that was hinted at as Wolverine sat in a bar in Japan as the film concluded (Daily Variety, May 4).
More than one option
(Co) Daily Variety
Filmography, Year, Role
(Co) Daily Variety
Separately, Fox is developing "Magneto," a film about the X-Men villain with a script by Shelton Turner, and "X-Men: First Class," which Josh Schwartz is penning.

Golly gee... more mutant teenagers and a strange, offshoot ninja/samurai storyline for Wolverine that really was played out by the end of the 1980's. Oh, and Deadpool, "one of the most popular [characters] in Marvel Comics' X-Men universe." Um... really? Deadpool? Because, according to Mr. "Pool's" Wikipedia article:

Wizard Magazine ranked Deadpool the 182nd best comic book character of all time, of their list of the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time.

Wow. 182nd. Out of *200*. That's well below such stellar and film-worthy characters as The Enlongated Man (#160), The Watcher (#150), and Alfred Pennyworth (Batman's butler - #142) - definitely solid characters, but not exactly names that fly, trippingly, off the tongue when one considers making a dedicated feature-lengh film. Methinks someone at Marvel's been huffing ink fumes again...

I went and saw the Wolverine movie this weekend and all I can say is... meh. It wasn't bad, certainly not, but it wasn't really anything special, either. It certainly would have helped if Hugh "Does My Goofy-ass Beard Look Stupid?" Jackman hadn't sleepwalked through most of the film. Seriously... it felt like even he was bored by the whole thing - you could almost see the words "this is what I'll be typecast as for the next 15 years?" scrolling across his forehead.

I know... I know... as someone who wants to one day make a living in partnership with the comic industry, I suppose I shouldn't talk bad about a huge franchise like the X-men, but given the wealth of other (and, let's face it, better) story arcs out there, written by amazingly talented writers like Bendis, Millar and others, do we honestly need endless re-hashings of a few cherry-picked characters' back-story? Something about it just feels like Marvel is deciding to "dumb down" the superhero genre to be more palatable for the general market, a choice that never seems to work. Do they really want to get a reputation for churning out schlock, to the point where your average moviegoer responds with apathy? Because I know I'm yawning re-reading that Variety article...

Let's hope that the new Avengers flick (which seems to be based... loosely perhaps... on the gritty and very adult "Ultimates" storyline, will be good (although I'm certainly not holding my breath)...

..

New Muzak - Arwa Abad (plus what I'm working on now)...

2009-05-05T23:28:00.005-04:00

.

First of all... no good news on the job front yet. I still have a few resumes out there that I'm following up on but, well... (shrug). Sorry - I know you all must be dying for good news. Soon, I hope...

On the bright side, I just finished up yet another short story, titled "Insha'Allah", that I'm pretty happy with. Thanks to Amy (for the neverending inspiration), Jen (for your priceless edits and suggestions), Jen's friend Simon (who gave me pointers on Islamic food, culture and langauage) and everyone else that's agreed to take a look but who have not yet provided feedback but I'm sure you will any day now.

...

Ahem. Anyway...

A few weeks back I was listening to some tunes on my beloved Hype Machine, when I ran across a blog posting with a very intriguing embedded music track. The artist (it was claimed), was a 14- or 15-year old Pakistani girl named Arwa Abad - the track was a cover of Terra Naiomi's song "Say It's Possible".

Quite frankly, it blew me away. If anything, I like Arwa's version better than the original. not TOO hard, seeing as how the source track is a bit, um, bubblegummy for me, but her cover is really interesting.

Thanks to a comment on the origonal blog posting, I was directed to Arwa Abad's account page on Soundclick - I think it's worth checking out of you're in the mood for a spot of new music. Downloads are free, thanks to Ms. Abad: just click on the "Music" link on the left-side nav menu and either stream the musical goodness, or download whatever tracks tickle your fancy as an .MP3. All are worth giving a listen to, but I really recommend checking out "Say It's Possible", as well as her cover of Iron and Wine's "Each Coming Night".

And to Arwa... if you're reading this, keep it up!!

..

Orson Scott Card: Batshit Crazy?

2009-04-23T08:19:00.012-04:00

.

Disappointing (if not unentirely unexpected) news today...

Orson Scott Card, one of my all-time favorite science fiction writers and author of the incomparable Ender's Game joined the board of directors of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) yesterday, according to the Box Turtle Bulletin.

NOM, you may know, released the more-than-a-little nutty "Gathering Storm" movie last month, warning all good Christians that their heterosexual "traditional" marriages , even their livelihoods and personal liberties, are in jeopardy in the face of growing support for gay marriage. If you haven't seen it, you can find it on YouTube HERE. Sorry, but I won't sully the page by embedding such trash here - I do have some standards. I will however, embed this fun parody ad... you tell 'em George "Mr. Sulu" Takei!

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

OK, all fun aside... while I have nothing but respect for Mr. Card as a writer, I have to say that it's more than a little disturbing to see a man of his imagination and intelligence supporting this close-minded, ignorant point of view. I get that he's a Mormon, and I also get that the LDS Church is a big, big opponant of equal rights for marriage of gays and lesbians. Issues of faith have always been a big part of Mr. Card's work, and informs it in a way that often makes his books unique and thought provoking.

But...

One of the key themes in Speaker For The Dead, the sequel to Ender's Game, was tolerance and understand of other cultures, especially ones alien and difficult to understand at first blush. The main tragedy of Ender's Game was the death of an entire alien species, as well as the irreparable damage to a young boy's childhood, due to misunderstanding and xenophobia. To see these very same themes so blithely ignored in the name of uncompromising religion is... well disappointing doesn't even come close to covering it.

Unless there's some seething and very well disguised thread of intolerance in Ender's Game and Speaker For The Dead, a thread that I've missed all these years, then it's a real shame to see Mr. Card's characters acting in a way that's more open-hearted and tolerant than the man himself seems to be. I've drifted away from Mr. Card's later work, finding it less and less relevant in my life (I guess now I can see why), but I still love and read his earlier works.

I suppose that, as a writer, I should make allowances. After all, I routinely write about evil characters, ones that do Very Bad Things to people, often with righteous smiles on their faces. This doesn't mean (I hope) that I am evil, or that I like inflicting the kinds of pain on others that my characters sometimes (often) do. It's just... weird... to think that while I'm getting my catharsis writing about blood-sucking necromancers and walking dead, Mr. Card may be exorcising his demons by writing about tolerant people on quests of self-discovery. If that's true, it would be one weird reversal...

In any case, I certainly hope that Mr. Card does not get his wish, and never sees the government overthrown in the name of an intolerant hegemony, nor do I wish to see a world where religious nutcases like the leaders of the Mormon Church get to dictate who a person can love and marry.

Sorry, Orson, but as brilliant a writer as you are, I have to draw the line somewhere.

..

Nibbles...

2009-04-21T11:23:00.003-04:00

.

Good news on the job front (hopefully)...

I got a call today from a company referred to me by a mutual acquaintance (see, kids... networking does work!) In a nutshell, they may be interested in interviewing me, despite the "non-traditional way" in which I've managed my professional career development. That's the polite way to say: "You have a fine arts degree and yet you worked for an internet financial services corporation for 12 years? Um... really??"

Yes, I know... it is strange, but life's just like that sometimes.

I don't want to say much about this yet, partly for superstitious reasons (knocks on wood, touches iron, sacrifices a stuffed Ms. Piggy doll on the alter of Jim Henson), but also because it's way too early to start counting unhatched poultry. I will say though that the company in question actually makes a product that helps society, which is something I'd be happy to be associated with - anyone who knows me knows that I'm very much a fan of the "not just for profit" business model, and working for a company that does more than just shovel consumer products at people would be awesome.

Wish me luck!

..

All hail, Melcor!

2009-04-20T17:46:00.004-04:00

.

Hmmmm.... so Vin Diesel had a half-drow witch hunter? That's just... surreal.

(skip to 2:20 or so for the good stuff...)

..

ROTFLMAO

2009-04-20T11:05:00.006-04:00

Click image for larger version...

Ah... Penny Arcade... how I do love thee.

..

The REAL "Iron man"...

2009-04-15T15:32:00.006-04:00

.

OK, so this "Iron Man robot suit" seems really cool...

"Interested in having your own HAL? The Post Chronicle reports that the HAL is going into production and will be available soon in Japan for around $4,200 while the Scientific American claims that the HAL exoskeleton is already available but only for rent in Japan for around $1,300 a month. The Cyberdyne cite states that HAL is in fact currently available for Japanese residents, for varying costs depending on region, and that HAL will soon be available to consumers in the European Union."

And I'm all for technology that:

"...is expected to be applied in various fields such as rehabilitation support and physical training support in medical field, ADL support for disabled people, heavy labour support at factories, and rescue support at disaster sites, as well as in the entertainment field."

All very cool. BUT...

What complete IDIOT over there decided to name their robotics company "Cyberdyne"??? That's sort of like naming a food company "Yummy Intestinal Parasites, LTD" or a car company "Crash-o-Matic Rolling Death Traps, Inc." or something.

Then again, maybe it's just pure laziness... this IS a group that named their company after the robotic entity that wiped out humanity in the Terminator films, their latest product after the homicidal supercomputer from 2001: A Space Oddesy, and their overall product concept on a comic book superhero.

Thanks for proving without a shadow of a doubt that the Japanese are best at ripping off original concepts and are weak as hell with, you know, actually coming up with anything NEW. Sheesh!!

..

R.I.P. Dave Arneson

2009-04-10T15:08:00.003-04:00

.

Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, died today at the age of 61. D&D's other creator, Gary Gygax, died back in March of 2008.

Thanks, Dave (and Gary, of course), for giving me so many fun-filled hours. I learned basically ALL of the fundamentals I would later use in my writing from role-playing games. Character development, plot fundamentals, pacing, story twists, foreshadowing... the works.

Dave Arneson, R.I.P., April 10, 2009

Teabaggin'

2009-04-10T14:40:00.007-04:00

.

You'd think they would have at least, oh, I dunno, Googled the term "tea bagging" before they decided to come up with a major protest day. Doing so would have prevented much unintentional hilarity, to wit:

(Warning: video NSFW)

Remember: For the love of Christ, do not imagine that!

UPDATE:

According to The Box Turtle Bulletin, The National Organization for Marriage (the same group responsible for those fake Coming Storm "I'm an American being discriminated against because I believe in traditional marriage" ads) just came up with a new meme/slogan:

2M4M

Um... really?? Seriously, guys... you need to USE GOOGLE NEXT TIME to find out what "M4M" means in the community at large before doing this stuff, OK? That or stop hiring people who get their degrees in Public or Media Relations from non-accredited bible colleges.

..

The "Base" Metaphor Explained...

2009-04-10T10:06:00.015-04:00

.

Man, I love XKCD, but Lordy, is it nerdy.

Yay.

(Click image for larger version...)

"2Outfielders1Glove"....

(( snicker ))....

PS - If you don't get that joke, whatever you do, don't Google "2Girls1Cup". Seriously. You have been warned. As for why *I* know that.... (( whistle ))...

On a related note:

Bwahahahaha!!!

They even do obscure literature references....

"Theft of the Magi..."

Heh.

More fun HERE.

.

What I'm working on (April, 2009)...

2009-04-09T15:39:00.008-04:00

.

So... I know you all are WAY too polite to ask me point-blank what I've been doing with myself in the 10 or so weeks since I was laid off (ugh...), so I figured I'd take stock and give a report.

Besides working on chapters for my Kamp Kommander novel, I've been working hard to develop and grow my short story chops. Writing short stories requires a very different set of skills than long form, and I've worked on novels so long that I neglected building these muscles properly.

The good news, however, is that freeing myself (or, more accuratrly, being freed from) the tyranical chains of my job seems to have opened up a floodgate of ideas, many of which have been completed since February.

Since leaving CheckFree, I've completed the following stories:

"Aeternal" - a story set in a distant future, where the undead rule the living through the remnants of the long-forgotten Church.
"Blood Bowl" - The saga of a small-town hero who challenges the vampire bowling prince of Henderson, Oklahoma to an epic duel.
"Ghost Light" - An aged actor and his son travel to Stratford, Connecticut to visit the theater that made - and will end - his life.
"Railriders" - Another tale of the future. A story about freedom and what we must sometimes sacrifice for it.
"The Shoe Factory" - A deep-space miner and tug pilot beams his consciousness out into space to save his own life. But who - or what - will pick up the signal?

With any luck, I'll find markets for all these stories very soon, and you'll be seeing them in a magazine or literature web site very soon. If anyone wants to recommend a market, please email me at the address at the top of the right-hand column.

I've also got about 11,000 words done of a novella, titled "Tatterface", a story set in the same world as Blood Magic and Nights of Sin. Kirin, my protagonist from those books (I can't really call her a "hero"), appears as a "guest star" in the story. Hopefully I'll be done with that one soon, but for now, it's proving to be a bit of a problem child.

Hope everyone out there is happy and well, and remember:

Before all else: write!!!

.